US Supreme Court Commission will consider reforms

Significance

Although the Commission represents the most concrete action on Supreme Court reform in decades, the large membership makes it unwieldy and it lacks a clear mandate to offer specific recommendations on reform proposals.

Impacts

• The Commission may have the effect of raising awareness of alternatives beyond expanding the number of justices on the Court.
• The Court’s size varied in the past but expansion now would bring accusations of court-packing, eroding its institutional integrity.
• If Justice Stephen Breyer retires this year, Biden could advance a nominee for confirmation by a narrow Senate majority.
• Biden will continue to feel pressure from the left to re-balance a rightward tilt many perceive in the Court’s membership.